Creature Feature - Prehistoric Animals

Consists of eight prehistoric animals. Not so useful for most straight up D&D games unless you are doing a Lost World type scenario or campaign. If you are playing a prehistoric game, like Wolf Packs and Winter Snows, then these would be an auto include as prey animals and predators. They might even be useful in a regular D&D game as say…the last of their kind, and a one off encounter.

Buluchitherium – A 20ft tall rhino.

Giant Elk – A bigger than big Elk

Grangeri – A rhino-giraffe.

Hyenodon – giant hyena like critter.

Megatherium – Giant ground sloth, a.k.a. Easy Pickin’s

Phorobacos –  Giant bird or Swordbeak.

Titanothere – A blunt horned rhino, as seen in the movie Ice Age.

(the suffixes there and therium, are Latin for - of the big-ass variety. Which is much better than using the lame word Dire, which is just stupid as all get out. I mean really, Dire Halflings, see what I mean. I really like to add some serious science to my D&D games.)

Possible Hooks

The Royal Bromance: Your fighter has been invited to go hunting for the Elk King, a legendary Elk, with the Castellan / Lord from the local keep. Wizards and Clerics can stay in the tent with the rest of the skirts, as usual.

Flock Me!: Get chased around the tall grass prairie by a flock of Phorobacos.

Dine in, or Carry Out: A Carnivorous Megatherium, which sounds stupid at first, but bear with me. As slow as this thing moves it should be stealthy as all get out. It moves around in the trees and drops into the PC’s camp in the middle of the night. Of course they are on guard but they will be looking outward, probably not up. Heck, maybe it even avoids large groups and prays on lone travelers or small groups, as it is not likely to be making a quick getaway. The characters set up camp only to notice that there is a lot of equipment, blankets, pots, pans etc just laying around in the spot they chose to camp. A thorough search reveals that there are no tracks to be found except those made by the victims.

GRUBS Rating: Meh, uninspired, but necessary.

Next up…Annelid, Great

Creature Feature - Giant Amoeba

Looks like a giant fried egg. Not to mention that the scale is off core is a 2ft blob, but the picture shows it as a third of the size of the Amoeba. Basically it’s a Gelatinous Cube that is amorphous and has a few extra HD and a gray blob in da middle. Sheesh. Maybe it should live near the Amber Lotus Flower, for all the good eats. 

This is the kinda thing that makes balk in disbelief that someone got paid to make this crap.

GRUBS Rating: Brain Damage, Massive

Creature Feature - Amber Lotus Flower

It’s a large water lily that looks like a large sunflower. When a character or creature gets near it, 10ft. it opens up and lets out a cloud of pollen that covers a 40x40ft area. Anyone caught in this area of effect must save vs. spells or go to sleep for 4d4 turns (40-160 minutes). The Amber Lotus has a symbiotic relationship with other living plants that like to feed on the corpses of adventurers and animals, such as Vampire Roses and Killer Trees. So by itself it’s not that dangerous but when it works with other living plants it can be dangerous.

First off, if this thing feeds off decomposing corpses, then the area around one of these is going to be littered with bones and rotting corpses. It’s going to smell pretty bad around it, not to mention that if these flowers are really water lilies then the water around it is going to be contaminated with dead corpses. This could be a potential plot hook.

The peasants from village downstream from the Amber Lotus is getting sick but nobody knows why. Turns out to be the Amber Lotus Flower victims are contaminating the water. When the characters approach they spot dozens of dead animals, and Bob, the village idiot who has been missing for months is lying face down near the bank of the stream half decomposed. You can tell it’s Bob by the obnoxious striped sox he always wears.

Now it’s not a very exciting plot hook mind you, but it might not be bad for a low level sandbox adventure.

If it is found in conjunction with Vampire Roses I am going to guess that some of the carcasses in and around the area are going to be completely desiccated. Which, in turn you could use to throw the characters for a loop and make it look like you have a dumping ground for some type of Vampiric creature. This could make a great addition to the old rumor chart. There is a vampire that roams the north woods feeding upon unwary travelers. He always dumps the corpses near giant water lilies to hide the smell of the decomposing corpses. (F)

Also, I nearly forgot. The pollen spray of the Amber Lotus recharges in 3d4 rounds (30-120 seconds). This means that any character that fails his save and goes to sleep 4d4 turns (40-160 minutes) will have to make another save when they wake up (unless you are a kinder, gentler DM than I). Rinse and repeat until they die from dehydration. LOL

Overall, it is kind of a dopey creature and one that I can’t see a lot of people using at all, or if they do use it, it would be a one-time thing.

Official GRUBS rating: Uninspired: meh maybe if I got nothing better, average.